Noisy Deadlines

“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” – Douglas Adams

  • Has it been almost a month since the last week notes? What is time, anyway?
  • ☃️ There was a sequence of above freezing temperature days, so it started to look like Spring is knocking at our door. The Rideau Canal Skating rink closed, most of the urban ski trails also closed for the season already.
  • 🎿 But, the last weeks of February were still very snowy, so I did complete a Level 2 Classic Ski Class and a Classic Ski Workshop “Help with Hills”. I am not that afraid of going down a slope anymore. And I got a bit better with my gliding and pole coordination. And right when I started to understand the ski mechanics better, the snow was gone and the season was over. Well, I will be ready for the next winter.
  • ⛸️ I completed my Level 3 Ice Skating class as well. I got better at using both edges in 1-foot glides and around a circle. Also, backwards skating felt less impossible, but I still haven’t got to the point where I could do backwards cross-overs. And that’s fine, I’m happy with what I can do so far, which is light-years away from when I started ice skating in 2019. I’m so glad I didn’t give up and kept coming back to ice skating every winter, regardless of how challenging it was.
  • 🎭 I’ve had varying degrees of energy levels since the beginning of the year. Some days I feel tired overall, and all I can do is go to work, keep up with the bare minimum of house/life chores and maybe read a bit before sleeping. And that low energy state goes on for a week or so, and then suddenly there is a week when my energy is back to more normal levels. I blame it on perimenopause, because I keep doing all the good things: meditation, yoga, exercise, balanced diet.
  • We finally got an opening to see a Family Doctor! We used to have one but when the pandemic started, the doctor went back to his home country, and me and my husband had to navigate the health system here using the walk-in clinics when needed. That helped me get in contact with some specialists, but now I have the chance again to do a full check-up, and it makes contacting the specialists easier.
  • 📖 These past weeks I focused more on reading books rather than reading online articles.
  • 📕 I finished reading “Babel-17” by Samuel Delaney for my local book club. Classic sci-fi written in the 60s, truly ahead of its time, with a strong female protagonist, queer normative, seeds of cyberpunk with psychedelic vibes. Very weird!
  • 🌳 We were gifted with a bonsai!

📺 Cool Videos:

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#weeknotes #skiing #iceskating

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

  1. The Just City (Thessaly #1) by Jo Walton, 368p: This novel begins with an interesting premise: Apollo, trying to understand consent after Daphne escapes him by turning into a tree, joins Athena’s experiment to build Plato’s Just City and chooses to live there as a powerless human child. The philosophical discussions about agency, sentience, and whether robots are slaves are thought-provoking, and Socrates questioning the status of the workers was the highlight for me. In the end, I didn’t really love it. The ideas are interesting, but the whole thing just left me feeling uncomfortable. The sexual assault parts weren’t handled in a way that felt properly addressed, which is especially weird in a story that’s supposed to be about justice and consent. The society often seemed oddly unquestioning and cult-like, I couldn't connect with any of the characters. Overall, it felt more depressing than thought-provoking, and it just didn’t click for me.

  2. Persepolis Rising (The Expanse #7) by James S.A. Corey, 622p: It opens with a time jump, where the Rocinante’s crew are older and even beginning to think about retirement. The pacing was excellent, and it kicks off a new arc in the story, introducing a new military force determined to dominate everyone else, as they tend to do. This book has some great action scenes and great character development. The military occupation is somewhat quiet and brutal, very passive-aggressive style, which makes it even more violent. It employs all the fascist propaganda methods of oppression, which makes it unsettling and real. I definitely want to know what happens next.

  3. Dreamweaver's Dilemma (Vorkosigan Saga (Publication Order) #9.1) by Lois McMaster Bujold, 26p: This was an interesting short story in the Vorkosigan universe. As per the author's note, it is her first draft of what has become the “Vorkosiverse” or the “Vorkosigan Saga”. It takes place around 600 years before the first in the series Cordelia's Honor. It's about a “feelie-dream” composer who is asked to compose a particularly bizarre dream from a mysterious and eccentric client, who is offering a big sum of money for it. The “feelie-dream” is a kind of 3D-sensory-virtual reality experience that people plug-in to experience, kinda like a very immersive Virtual Reality experience. The story is mysterious and exciting, with noir-like tension in the way the composer tries to understand who this man really is and why he wants this particular dream created.

  4. Falling Free (Vorkosigan Saga (Publication Order) #4) by Lois McMaster Bujold, 237p: I loved that this book if full of engineers problem-solving with whatever resources and tools they have available. There are fun references to typical engineer quirks. But on top of that, it deals with genetically altered humans subjected to a big corporation's greed. It takes place 200 years before Miles Vorkosigan was born. The “Quaddies” are genetically modified people who have four arms: instead of legs, they have a second pair of hands, which makes them very efficient in zero gravity. However, the Quaddies are legally considered corporate assets, used as space labor, and we see their struggles for autonomy and recognition. I read this after finishing the Brothers in Arms / Mirror Dance / Memory / A Civil Campaign sequence. It's a nice addition to the Vorkosigan Saga world-building, especially since the Quaddies are referenced again in the next book in the series, Diplomatic Immunity.

  5. Do You Want to Start a Scandal (Castles Ever After #4) by Tessa Dare, 384p: This one was a funny and light read. The mother's sex education dialogue was hilarious, I'll remember it every time I see aubergines and peaches from now on. I liked that there was a bit of a mystery to the story and Charlotte was playing amateur detective with Piers. The mystery resolution was nothing extraordinary, and I missed some more spy action from Piers.

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#readinglist #books #reading

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

  • Week notes in the middle of the week? Yes, why not!
  • ✏️ So, I was doing the 750 Words journaling daily and even though it's great exercise, I can't keep up the pace everyday. And because the website tracks streaks, seeing that I broke my streak makes me frustrated. And some days I was just writing for the sake of completing the streak. So I decided to get back to my journaling using Standard Notes, where I don't feel that much pressure. I still strive to write everyday, but it doesn't need to be 750 Words.
  • 🎭I took some time to acknowledge that January was busy for me, and that I needed to rest. There was a lot going on, and I was putting my standards way too high. I had to slow down and remember my own lessons learned.
  • 🎿 I completed the Level 1 Cross Country Ski course! It was crazy to have classes so late at night from 8pm to 9:30pm. This night routine affected my energy levels a lot! It just made me realize how much I need my sleep time and my daily routines for me to function well. I don't regret it, tho. Cross country skiing is harder than I thought, and I will continue with a Level 2 class this weekend.
  • ☃️ It has been pretty cold around here the past few days, so I didn't have the courage to go ice skating or skiing outside too much. I did, however, go skiing once on a beautiful trail called Mer Bleu. It was the first outing after I was done with the ski class, and it was very challenging! First of all, it was cold (-17C) and even though the trail was mostly flat, skiing for 2 hours for the first time was too much. My partner was with me, and he got excited to go on the big loop, and we didn’t know how long the loop was. So, 2 hours later, I was dead tired. I did take a long nap afterwards that day to recover.
  • ⛸️ I'm still doing my ice skating classes once a week. I'm doing very slow progress skating backwards. I don't think I'll ever be able to do backwards cross overs.
  • 📕 I read “The Just City” by Jo Walton for my local book club, and it was a weird experience. I heard very positive praises about this book, but it wasn't for me. It's basically a thought experiment on making Plato's Republic idea of a “just city” a reality, which is an interesting premise. But the book was constantly pointing out how this is actually a terrible idea, showing all the bad consequences, and I missed having more characters that actually questioned the status quo. Anyway, it was interesting having the discussion with my book club, since it's philosophy adjacent, but I won't continue with this series.
  • 📖 I'm almost done with “Persepolis Rising” (The Expanse #9) for my other book club, and it's so amazing!
  • ❄️ Looking forward to the upcoming long weekend!

📌 Cool online reads:

📺 Cool Videos:

#weeknotes #skiing

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

1. The Left Hand of Darkness (Hainish Cycle #4) by Ursula K. Le Guin, 364p: This is a classic sci-fi book that doesn't hold your hand at the beginning, with lots of world building terms being mentioned without too much explanation. But the world is rich, and eventually we understand pieces of it by reading further and making our own connections. This was not a plot heavy book for me, it shines on character building. It explores the clash between two different societies, one which is traditional gender binary and another (the Gethenians) which is essentially genderless and sexless, except during a mating season. It was a slow read for me, but it pays off when the two main characters have to team up and go on a long journey, trekking a cold and snowed-in landscape together. It is a great though-experiment on gender, cultural oppression and colonization. Having been written in the 60s, this book paved the way for future sci-fi gender conversations by daring to imagine a world where gender isn’t a constant and can be fluid, contextual, and socially constructed.

2. Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It by Cory Doctorow [audio] 10h17min: This book lays down all the foundation and reasoning behind the phenomenon that is the systematic decay of services everywhere. The author coined the term “Enshittification”, and he presents various examples of the mechanism happening in services like Meta, Amazon, Uber, etc. I enjoyed the audio version, narrated by the author himself. Cory Doctorow uses sarcasm and he is often funny. But at the same time, the sad reality of capitalism exploitation is distilled in great detail. There is also a final section where he offers solutions. Very informative and timely read in our current moment (I read it in early 2026). After finishing it, it’s hard not to notice enshittification everywhere.

3. Winterfair Gifts (Vorkosigan Saga #13.5) by Lois McMaster Bujold, 90p: A nice novella where we can see Miles and Ekaterin's wedding! But we actually see it through the eyes of Roic, a Vorkosigan House guardsman who we met in the previous book, A Civil Campaign. We also get a chance to see Sergeant Taura again, which was great in this story. There's a bit of a mystery, but nothing complex.

4. A Week to Be Wicked (Spindle Cove #2) by Tessa Dare, 384p: The first time I tried this book, I didn’t like either of the characters from the first scene. I gave this book a second chance, and it was okay. The trope is the smart, bookish girl (Minerva) who really doesn't want to get married because she wants to be a geologist and the unrepentant rake (Colin). It's a road trip novel, with the two faking an elopement so that Minerva can travel to Scotland and present her findings in a Royal Geological Society Symposium. It's a light, funny read.

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#readinglist #books #reading

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

  • 📝 It seems I like to write bi-weekly notes, instead of strictly weekly. Well, I will keep the title of these posts as “Week Notes” anyway. It still feels right.

  • 🌎 Honestly, I've been a bit sad these past weeks with all that's going on in the world. I don't follow or regularly read main news media outlets, but even with my very limited and curated source of news, it's been rough, huh?

  • 🎿 I'm halfway through my cross country beginner ski classes and it's been fun. The learning curve is definitely shorter than ice skating, though it still comes with its own set of challenges. I'm no good going down slopes (even very gentle ones). My skis have a tendency to cross themselves all the time, it's crazy. But hey, double poling is fun! I still have some work to do on the diagonal stride with the poles.

  • 🗓️ Since January started, I haven't been able to complete a weekly review. I usually do them on weekends, but I’ve been pretty tired lately. The 8 p.m. ski classes throw off my sleep routine during the week, and I’ve also been taking ice‑skating lessons on Saturdays. So I’ve accepted that I won’t be fully on top of my reviews this month, and that’s okay.

  • ☃️ A polar vortex came to my area this weekend, and it's been very cold. I mostly stayed inside because facing a -35C wind chill is no fun (that's when the cold will literally hurt your face). I wanted to go skate at the Rideau Canal, but I moved that plan to next weekend.

  • 📖 Reading has been a bit all over the place. I was reading a book for my local Book Club (Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie) and it was not working for me, so I abandoned it. I am still enjoying Persepolis Rising (The Expanse #7). I have 3 more books I started at the same time, but I want to focus on one to finish before the end of the month.

  • 🎧 I finished an audio book: Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It by Cory Doctorow. It lays down all the foundation and reasoning behind the phenomenon that is the systematic decay of services everywhere.

  • 📊 I started using a book tracker spreadsheet developed by the ladies of the Currently Reading podcast, which I hope will give me more insights about tropes, moods and recommendation sources that I enjoy. I'm giving it a try this year!

  • 🐧 My Linux experience has been great, so much so that I don't even notice I've changed operating system. Ubuntu has been stable and does what I need it to do. It's fast and efficient.

📌 Cool online reads:

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#weeknotes

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

  • 🚇 My partner and I drove to Montreal on New Year’s to spend some time with our friends there. It’s always nice to get on the metro, check out some stations, and walk around downtown Montreal. It was very cold (-20°C), so being able to walk through Montreal’s underground city was very welcome!
  • 🐧 My #linux Journey is going well. It was actually easier than I thought to make the switch to Ubuntu. A consequence of this change is also moving away from Microsoft and Google services for my personal digital life. So far, pCloud and Fastmail have been working well for my needs. I’m testing Fastmail’s calendar, which seems good enough, and I like that I can sync it with GNOME Calendar.
  • 🗓️ I started using a mini Happy Planner which I find is the perfect size for me. It’s much more portable, so it’s easier to have it with me. I don’t use it to track hourly appointments; instead, I use it for weekly/monthly planning and logging cool things.
  • ⛸️ I'm back on my ice skating classes! I was so happy that in the first class this weekend, I was able to remember how to do cross-overs in both directions. I mean, I wasn’t as afraid anymore to actually lift my feet and cross over! I used to have a terrible mental block with this movement. So, I think the muscle memory is there, I just need to work more on it now (I can’t do them in sequence yet; I only do one at a time, slowly). It also looks like there will be lots of backward skating practice this time around.
  • 🌊 I took some time to do my Yearly Review and set some intentions for 2026. The overall theme for me will be continuing the good things that I established last year. I chose the word FLOW for 2026: trusting my routines & tools, creating less friction, focusing on what brings me joy, and being open, relaxed, and grounded.
  • 🏠 We completed another maintenance project in our house: upgrading our attic insulation to R-60. We hired a contractor to do blown-in cellulose insulation, adding to the existing Rockwool batt insulation we installed there when we moved in. One more house task checked off the list.
  • 🎿 I was supposed to start classic ski lessons this past weekend, but because of the weather (it warmed up to +7C and rained) the trails were closed. The entire three-day weekend class was cancelled, and the only option offered was to enroll in evening classes instead. So, starting tomorrow, I'll have ski classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays until the end of the month! I'm very excited because I've never done this before and I want to build a solid foundation before hitting the trails on my own. It's gonna be tough, since the classes start at 8pm, and will disrupt my bedtime a bit, but it's only for two weeks, so I think I’ll survive.
  • 📖 I started reading Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey (Book 7 of The Expanse series). I'm loving it! I forgot how much I LOVE this series! I keep finding excuses to stop what I'm doing just to read. And it's even more fun because we are doing an online book club. Thanks, Joel, for inviting me!
  • 🎮 I want to get back to playing video games this year. I barely played anything after last summer. So I made a list of games I want to continue or start in 2026: Stardew Valley, Pillars of Eternity, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, Citizen Sleeper, Trine 4 and Temple of Elemental Evil (the Steam updated edition!)

📌 Cool online reads:

📺 Cool Videos:

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#weeknotes

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

Okay, so I did backup all my data and after the initial tests I decided to stick with Ubuntu 25.10. I did all the experiments on an old laptop that I don't use anymore and I decided to install Linux on my main daily driver: the Thinkpad X1 Carbon.

And I wanted to make it dual-boot with Windows 11, just in case.

It turns out, Windows 11 doesn't really like to share space with another operating system, and I had to go through a bunch of steps to get it ready for dual-boot.

And also, I wanted to have a separate partition only for data, as I used to have in the old days when I would reinstall my operating system once every year at least.

These were the resources that helped me:

Steps to prepare Windows 11 for Dual Boot

This is my checklist:

  1. Clean up Windows partition to free up some space: uninstall apps, clean up C:/Windows/Temp, run Windows Clean-Up Tool more than once including the Clean System files option

  2. Back up data from Windows 11 (I did a full backup of OneDrive, and some other app folders like Calibre/Standard Notes back-ups). Steam was all synced to the cloud, so I just uninstalled everything

  3. Disable Bitlocker on Windows: search for Bitlocker Manger and turn it off

  4. Disable Secure Boot: go to BIOS/UEFI and turn if off (after I turned it off, I had to re-login on Windows with the outlook account and reset my PIN to open Windows again)

  5. Disable Fast Start-Up (>Control Panel>Hardware and Sound>Power Options>Choose what the power buttons do>disable. This is to avoid Windows from changing the GRUB later on

  6. Create a bootable USB with the Windows install for future emergency https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows11 => Create Windows 11 Installation Media (hopefully, I’ll never have to use this!)

  7. Create free space for Linux using the Disk Manager on Windows

    • Here I couldn't shrink all the space available on my C:/Drive! I had 816 Gb free space, but the Disk Manager only allowed me to shrink 456GB. I searched for an answer online and found this helpful video:
    • Cannot shrink a volume beyond the point
    • I couldn't resize the partition using Windows Disk Manager because of unmovable disk space. I tried all the tricks I saw online (disabling restore, pagesys, hybernation, etc...). The only thing that worked was installing a third-party app to do that for me.
    • Tried out AOMEI Partition Assistant =>did not work out
    • EaseUS Partition Master: could successfully shrink the C:/ drive.
  • So I ended up with these partitions:
    • Windows: 155GB
    • Linux: 128GB
    • Data: 668GB

==> Install Ubuntu using the “Manual Installation” option. The steps described in Rob Braxman's video helped a lot.

First week on Ubuntu

The Ubuntu installation process went smoothly, no issues whatsoever.

I finally copied all my OneDrive backup to my D:/DATA drive. It was super fast!!! Like, less than 20 min, I don't know, 15min? It was so fast I couldn't believe it! I still can't believe how fast everything is with Linux. 🚀

(Note: it took me a whole DAY to copy my OneDrive data in Windows 11 to my SSD)

I decided to switch to another cloud storage service, so now my D:/DATA drive is synced with pCloud.

I learned that it is not good to name folders/files stating with dot “ . “. I mean, in Ubuntu, any item that starts with a .dot is a hidden folder! So I learned to use the CTRL+H to hide/unhide folders/files in Nautilus. I renamed some of my folders as well, to avoid the confusion.

I installed the “GNOME Tweaks” to customize the appearance a bit. That was enough customization for me right now.

I learned that I can use the keyboard shortcut “Win + . ” and then space to open up an Emoji Selector! 😊

I installed Calibre and pointed the location of the Calibre Library as the same place as it was before in my Data drive => And the whole library was there! I didn't loose anything, it was that easy.

After I installed all my usual apps, it was smooth sailing with Ubuntu. I didn't miss Windows at all. I had to log into Windows a couple of times to get some data from Outlook, but other than that, I didn’t need Windows. But, since I went through all the hassle to have it in dual-boot, I’m leaving it there just in case.

Next steps

Now I'm looking at some email/calendar alternatives that are not Google or Microsoft. After some quick searching, I'm doing a 30 day trial of Fastmail, and I'm really impressed with it. It did import all of my old data from Outlook/Gmail without issues in less that an hour. I was impressed.

I'm testing the calendar feature as well, to see if I can sync it with my Work Outlook calendar and vice-versa.

Also, I'll test it using Thunderbird.

#linux #tech

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

As I worked through my New Year planning and reflected on the past year, revisiting my private journal entries, these lessons stood out to me:

  • Listen to my body; adjust instead of pushing.
  • Consistency matters more than intensity or perfection.
  • Routines beat tools; resetting beats reinventing.
  • The tools I already enjoy are enough (yes, Nirvana, I’m looking at you!).
  • Daily journaling brings me emotional stability. Typing works for me.
  • Joy (music, reading, movement) is restorative, not optional.
  • Movement should support me, not punish me.
  • I don’t need to optimize everything to live well.
  • Letting go is healthy and allowed.
  • Experiences matter more than systems.
  • Steadiness and simplicity win in the long run.

🎉 Happy 2026 !!! 🤗

#NoisyMusings #notes #lessons

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

  • Tress of the Emerald Sea (Secret Projects #1) by Brandon Sanderson, 442p: This book has fascinating world building with a sea made of deadly spores, instead of water. I liked the whimsical, fairy tale tone and the independent female character. It plays with the trope of the damsel-in-distress trope by flipping it: the male protagonist is imprisoned and needs to be saved by the woman. I had some issues with the narrative voice. It was fine at the beginning, even with the forth-wall-breaking bits, but it felt strange that the narrator (Hoid, a character who appears in other Cosmere books) seems omnipresent even during events he couldn't have witnessed, and then recounts them anyway. That bothered me. Also, his mismatched-clothing jokes get old pretty fast. The villains (including the dragon) were weak overall. I think the best “villain” in the book is the sea spores themselves, they are terrifying! The plot twist was cool! It was a light read and fun read, but I wasn't very invested in the characters.

  • Komarr (Vorkosigan Saga (Publication Order) #11) by Lois McMaster Bujold, 384p: This is the first book with Miles Vorkosigan fully steps into his role as Imperial Auditor. We get to see this other planet, Komarr, with its domes and an ongoing terraforming project. It's an investigative procedural that builds toward bigger political implications for the next book in the series. This one is the book where Miles starts to fall in love. Some new characters are introduced!

  • A Civil Campaign (Vorkosigan Saga (Publication Order) #12) by Lois McMaster Bujold, 534p: What an amazing read! This book happens around the time of Emperor Gregor's wedding, and there is a lot going on. It's full of juicy political intrigue and romance shenanigans. It's a great reunion of characters on Barrayar: we get Miles, Ivan, Aral and Cordelia, Koudelkas, Ilyan, Mark, Kareen, the whole gang. It's super fun! I laughed out loud several times while reading this one. There are engineered bugs for the food industry, but also gardening, multiple romantic entanglements, internal politics and an awesome transgender man who defies all traditional Barrayaran beliefs. In summary, fantastic! This series doesn't stop to get better.

#readinglist #books #reading

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

I have been using Linux on my older ASUS laptop for roughly four days now, and I didn’t even need to open Windows for anything. I tested three distros in the meantime, but I mostly used Ubuntu 25.10 to perform tests on all the activities I normally do on Windows, to see if I could make them work.

✅ Things that are working now:

  • Dropbox: I installed Dropbox, and now it works, it’s syncing locally, which I like. But the Dropbox pricing is kinda expensive (min plan is 2TB) and I read some issues they had with privacy, so that is a bit concerning to me, since privacy is one of the reasons I'm switching to Linux.
  • OneDrive: actually, I added the Microsoft 365 to the Online Accounts option in Settings, and it just worked! I can access all the OneDrive files virtually. I want to use this as a transition space until I'm totally switched to another cloud service. This only worked properly with Ubuntu 25.10.
  • pCloud app: I installed the pCloud app and it worked! Everything is syncing! I really like this service. I am thinking of getting the 500Gb plan to test out and transfer my entire OneDrive to pCloud. It syncs superfast, and I can access everything on the web and on my phone. There’s also an option to sync files locally, which I tested. It’s cheaper than Dropbox, and they even offer lifetime plans. Also, super easy to use and set-up on Linux.
  • Thunderbird: Email syncing with Outlook worked well, no issues there. I had a hard time syncing the calendar, though. I had to install plugins (TbSync & Provider for Exchange/Office 365 add-ons for automatic syncing). At first, the syncing produced a bunch of errors. I removed and re-added the account, waited a bit longer, and then it finally started syncing. Now all the calendars I selected are synced. I’m not sure if the syncing errors will happen again, so this is something to monitor. This setup is also a workaround until I switch to another calendar service.
  • I also tried the GNOME calendar, which looks great, I love it! But I couldn't get the Outlook Calendar to show up in there. Google Calendar syncs instantly after adding Google via the Online Accounts settings. Interesting how much easier it is to sync compared to Outlook.
  • I connected the Kobo to Ubuntu via USB. It was recognized, it charges and connects to Calibre, no problem.
  • Bluetooth speakers: my JBL speakers work perfectly!!
  • Firefox: Installed an extension on Firefox to create PWA apps from the web.
  • Calibre/e-Book/DRM: I tried a bunch of stuff, including suggestions from readers of my blog (thank you so much!🤗). What ultimately worked was installing WINE and emulating Adobe Digital Editions along with the de-DRM app on Linux. So I did it! It’s the same process I use on Windows. But I found out how that the DRM plugin on Calibre works, and it can remove DRM from any book when I connect my Kobo to the computer, so that’s cool! I can de-DRM books that I purchased on Kobo, which I was never able to do before.
  • Nautilus: The file explorer Nautilus annoyed me quite a lot, and the customization options are not great. But I found an alternative: Nemo. Installing it with sudo apt install nemo gives me just what I need (like resizing the sidebar).
  • Keyboard shortcuts: I learned how to make a custom keyboard shortcut to open new Nautilus/Nemo windows! I am still learning the usual keyboard shortcuts.

💿 Some distros I tried out

  • Kubuntu 25.10: it's so cute! I love how it looks! However, the Online Accounts option was not there at all! So I couldn't find a way to connect to OneDrive or Google. That makes it kind of useless for me right now during this transition period, though it might be an option in the future.
  • Linux Mint 22.3 (beta): nice and looks great, lots of customization options. But I also couldn't connect to Microsoft (there is an error when it goes to the login page, the webpage to authenticate shows that it's an unauthorized service from Microsoft).
  • Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS: I went back to my first install in the HDD, and for some reason the Microsoft account connected only works for the calendar, but not for the files. Weird. I think Ubuntu 25.10 is the best option for me right now.
  • I’ve heard about Zoran OS and Bazzite, but didn't try them. They seem to be kinda similar at first glance, and I think I still prefer Ubuntu for now. I don’t want to spend a lot of time distro-hopping, because that will lead me into decision paralysis.
  • 🎯 CONCLUSION: I will start with Ubuntu 25.10. This version gave me all the options and functionalities I needed to get started. And I got used to the GNOME interface surprisingly quickly. I began appreciating the somewhat minimalistic vibes.

📌Some Videos that I watched about choosing a distro:

⏭️ Next Steps

  • I’m doing a full backup of my OneDrive files to my external SSD.
  • Other files I want to back up: My Steam library game saves (I’m not sure all saves are stored online) and my Calibre Library (I will export a backup file).
  • Do a final installation of Ubuntu 25.10 on my main laptop (ThinkPad X1 Carbon) and test all the hardware and functionalities to start using it as my daily driver for personal use.
  • Figure out what I want to do about the online/cloud services I use: cloud storage, digital calendar, emails.

#linux #tech

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

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